The bad thing about nightmares is they feel so real, so in the moment.

"Run Max! RUN!" The person in black yelled across the field. It was amazing that with all the ruckus the battle between us and whatever these things were, but was as clear as a bell. My body ached as a turned and ran, the cuts were oozing and the bruises were burning, but I sprinted as if my life depended on it. Well, it probably did.

I ran into the lush forest that surrounded the clearing, breaking through tree branches and bushes. Everything ached and my heart pounded, lungs screaming for enough air and then it hit me. It hit me hard, one of the monsters had followed me and tackled me head on. It started tearing through my flesh with its claws. It was going to kill me piece by piece, striping my flesh from my bone. The monster wrapped its claws around my arms and forced me to the ground. It pinned me down, pushing my face into the muck and dirt I had been running on.

"Max! Max, it's me!" Oh great, now the monster talks? "Come on Max."

"Let go of me!" I struggled under its grip, kicking and screaming, trying any way possible to get out. "No, no, no!" I closed my eyes, desperate to force myself in to reality, away from the foul stench every part of this gruesome beast was saturated in. Then it all stopped.

I felt hands on my face, and I heard two sets of breathing patterns. One was gasping and irregular, which I'm sure was mine, and one was calm and steady. I flung my eyes wide open. I was in my room, in my bed. I was wake, I was safe.

"Max?" The person holding me down removed their hands and sat on the edge of my bed. It was my best friend from the next room over. His name was Nick, but everyone called him Fang.
"Max, are you okay?" Fang asked, a worried expression on his face. He rarely showed his emotions, but around me he was more open.

"Ya, I'm fine." I sat up and wrapped my arms around my legs what were still underneath the covers. "Just a nightmare."

"No, Max, it was not 'just a nightmare'. These things are getting worse. It took me ten minutes to wake you up this time. You scream every night. It scares Angie." Angela was his adopted little sister that he took care of on the weekends, I helped babysit her on my nights off. She is thee most adorable thing on the face of the planet, let me tell you that is an understatement. "Max, what is going on?"

I looked at him, pushing my hair behind my ears. "I don't know Fang... I don't know."